WASHINGTON – In a first for the Obama White House, the president's chief of staff sat down for an interview with a Native American publication.

Pete Rouse, who took over the position from a retiring Rahm Emanuel in October, is an all-around political power player who also happens to know quite a bit about Indian policy issues, having served as chief of staff to former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota.

During his time in service to Daschle, Rouse became known as the "101st senator," and, upon Daschle's exit from Congress, he became chief of staff to Obama when he was a freshman senator from Illinois.